The festival will provide the Irish brewers with an opportunity to try their hands at brewing cask-conditioned real ale, a product that is virtually non-existent in Ireland where the vast majority of beer served is from a keg. A total of 12 beers will be available to punters on the Co-operative Irish brewery bar throughout the week of the festival.

Cuilan Loughnane, organising brewer from White Gypsy, said: “I’ve always loved producing and drinking real ale, but it is incredibly difficult to sell in Ireland with the beer scene being completely dominated by keg beer.

“A few of us have decided to try and make a go of it, and will be producing two real ales each to showcase the potential for real ales in Ireland.

“The Great British Beer Festival is a great opportunity for us to learn from UK brewers and maybe bring something new to the table from Ireland. This is a very new initiative so will of course be a challenge for us, but I am positive that everyone involved will rise to that challenge and hopefully be inspired to start brewing real ale back home in Ireland.”

Festival organiser, Ian Hill, said: “It’s incredibly exciting that we will see a coalition of Irish brewers represented at the festival for the very first time. The Irish brewery bar will give festival-goers a chance to sample a variety of beer styles and flavours from a country that is more well known for Guinness.

“We hope that the bar will provide a boost to the real ale scene in Ireland and make a fantastic addition to the 900 real ales, international beers, ciders and perries available at Britain’s largest beer festival.”